


Risa

by mismatched_ideas



Series: It's Easier With You [19]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Family Fluff, Gen, Introspection, Mari helps, New York City AU, yuuri thinks about what he wants
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-30
Updated: 2017-06-30
Packaged: 2018-11-21 08:01:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11353236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mismatched_ideas/pseuds/mismatched_ideas
Summary: Yuuri goes home to Japan to meet his baby niece, Risa.





	Risa

**Author's Note:**

  * For [alison](https://archiveofourown.org/users/alison/gifts), [Caroline](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caroline/gifts).



“Are you sure you don’t want me to wait until we’re both free?” Yuuri asked for the fourteenth time in the last week.

“Yuuri, Love, there will be time for me to see the baby.” Viktor smiled, pulling Yuuri into a hug. “It’s been six months since she was born. It’s important you see her.”

Yuuri nestled farther into Viktor’s shoulder, “Of course Mari would have her baby right at the beginning of the season.”

Viktor chuckled, “How dare your sister not think about the figure skating season when she got pregnant.” 

“I know, it was so rude of her.” Neither men moved until the alarm on Yuuri’s watch began to beep. “I guess I should go.”

They shared a long kiss, people giving them looks that said ‘you are both too old to be acting like this,’ before they finally broke apart and Yuuri made his way to the security line. Viktor waited, watching Yuuri until he gave a small wave to Viktor and was gone.

Maybe they were too old for this, but that didn’t matter to either of them.

\---

After an almost seventeen hour flight, with one stop over in Seoul, and an almost two-hour train ride from the airport to Hasetsu Yuuri just wanted to sleep. Probably for a week. But he didn’t have time for that.

Minako, like usual, was waiting at the train station for Yuuri to arrive. 

“Yuuri, it’s been too long.” She was looking older but she still looked much younger than her actual age. Not that Yuuri even knew what the actual age was, but he did know she was old than his mother. 

She pulled him into a hug which he readily accepted. “I’m sorry for not visiting more often.”

“No need to apologize!” She pulled away and smiled at him, the creases around her mouth becoming more prominent. “You’ve got work and a husband to keep in line.” Yuuri laughed at this, “And if you’re going to apologize, I should too. I could have visited you two anytime.”

“I missed you.” Yuuri told her, making the older woman blink before laughing.

“Yuuri, you’re too young to be acting like that!” She leaned in, “Or are you saying that because you think I’m an old lady who wants that kind of sentimental crap?” 

“Of course not.” Yuuri laughed, “You don’t look a day over twenty.” 

“When did you get so cheeky?” Even after so many years away, Yuuri’s feet knew which direction was home. “I’m not sure Viktor has been a good influence on you.”

“Don’t pretend I didn’t learn some of this from you.” Maybe Yuuri was too young to be feeling so sentimental, but he felt it all the same. He was just so glad to see everyone again. He’d never really expected to feel this way, especially since it hadn’t been that long since he was living here. He’d still spent the majority of his life here yet the last few years seemed like they stretched so much longer. 

Detroit. Saint Petersburg. New York. All together they made up somewhere around seven to nine years of his life and yet…

“Earth to Yuuri, we’re here.” Minako was raising an eyebrow. Yuuri hadn’t even noticed he stopped walking until Minako brought him back to this here and now. 

“Sorry, I was just thinking.” He followed her inside, the memory of coming home after graduation seeming so recent. Maybe he was being a little too nostalgic. 

“I’ll leave you for now, but I’ll come to visit tomorrow.”

“Okay, I’ll see you later then.” 

Yuuri waved to Minako, smiling softly as she left. It was much stranger being back than he’d expected. 

“I’m home.” He called, closing the door behind him. 

“Yuuri!” His mother appeared, looking mostly the same as last time he was home except with more gray and more wrinkles. “Welcome home!”

“Hey, Mom.” Yuuri slipped out of his shoes before hugging Hiroko. “How’s everything here?”

“Great, just great. Your father and I are doing great. Mari and Joel are both great too. They can’t wait for you to meet Risa.” Yuuri followed Hiroko through the inn while listening fondly to her gushing, “She’s such a cute baby. She looks so much like Mari, you won’t believe it. Other than the hair, she looks just like when Mari was a baby. Mari!” Hiroko called into the main dining area, “Look who’s here.”

“Yuuri.” Mari was lounging in the quiet, empty room. Yuuri had arrived late and so the few people here were already asleep. 

Mari looked much like she had her entire life, albeit with a little added weight and some more wrinkles. Then again, Yuuri wasn’t about to comment on any added weight. She’d had a baby, he just stopped worrying as much about his weight. 

Mari hadn’t let married life, or being a mother, change her bleached hair and pierced ears. Though now Yuuri saw she wasn’t wearing any earrings. She’d told him over Skype that she had to take them out since Risa had recently started grabbing at anything she found interesting, which was often Mari’s jewelry. 

“It’s good to see you in person again.” Yuuri smiled softly at his sister, “How’s everything?”

“The kid and husband are good, if that’s what you’re asking.”

Joel and Mari had met through an online community for people looking to gain language skills in a second language. For Joel, it had been Japanese and Mari had been looking to get more practice with her English. Yuuri had been a bit concerned when Mari asked to visit their New York home so she could meet with this man in person but Yuuri wasn’t about to say so to his sister. First, she could take care of herself and second, she would have been annoyed that he didn’t trust her judgment. Regardless, the two had hit it off and both Katsuki siblings got to spend the next few months dealing with jokes about how they both had a thing for blond, foreign men. 

“I’ll see you in the morning.” Hiroko backed out of the room with a smile, “But I need to sleep now, this is too late for me.”

“Good night.” Both siblings called after their mother.

“So, how are you?” Mari asked as Yuuri sat down across from her. “It feels like it’s been forever since I saw you.”

“I know, Skype just isn’t the same.” Yuuri smiled, glad to be home even if it felt strange for a reason he couldn’t place. “I’m good. I really like being a coach, it’s nice.”

“That’s good. How’s Yurio doing? He just won gold, right?” 

Yuuri nodded, “He was pretty amazing. I’m sure he’ll be skating for a while to come.”

There was a long silence, comfortable and familiar, before Yuuri spoke again.

“It’s still hard to believe you have a baby.” 

“You’re telling me.” Mari laughed, “I always thought you and Viktor would be the first to have a kid or two.”

“Really?” Yuuri frowned at his sister.

He’d never really thought about kids. He tried to bring it up once, just to see where Viktor stood, but the conversation didn’t go very far. Viktor tended to be a little sensitive about family and Yuuri tried not to force the issue. 

“Sure. You two are basically attached at the hip and you seem to like working with kids. Why not have one or two of your own?”

“I don’t know…” Yuuri folded his hands in his lap, staring at his knuckles. “I don’t think Viktor really wants kids and… well… I’m not ready for kids anyways.”

Yuuri looked up when Mari snorted and started to laughing.

“What?”

“Come on, Yuuri, nobody is ready to have kids.”

“That hardly seems true.”

Mari slowly stopped laughing, her eyes soft as she looked at her little brother. “There is almost nobody who’s ready to have their first kid. There are probably a lot more that are ready for their second but not everyone. Kids are hard and no matter how ready you think you are, you aren’t.”

“I’d just rather wait to be ready.”

“That’s fine.” Mari smiled, “Just make sure that’s not the only reason you’re waiting. You don’t want to wait until you’re ninety to be ready. If there’s something else stopping you, that’s fine, you don’t have to have kids now or ever. But don’t let your anxiety stop you from doing something you want to do.”

“Why did you decide to have a kid?”

“I didn’t think I was ready. I didn’t think I’d ever be ready. I’m old, Yuuri, and having a kid didn’t seem like a good idea. Also, I didn’t want to smoke if I was going to have a baby and I just didn’t know if I’d be able to quit. I had so many concerns but you know who finally knocked some sense into me?” Yuuri shook his head. “Minako sat me down and asked if I wanted to have kids or not. She wasn’t saying I had to, she just wanted to know. I told her I wasn’t ready and she said nobody was.”

“Minako hasn’t exactly been a mother.”

“No, but she’s watched a lot of people become parents.” Yuuri couldn’t argue with that. “She told me that there’s a difference between not being ready and feeling like you’re not ready. A sixteen-year-old isn’t ready to be a parent but a twenty-six-year-old probably is, they just don’t feel like it.” Mari leaned closer to Yuuri. “If you and Viktor don’t want to have kids because you don’t want to have kids, more power to you. That’s your choice. But if you don’t want kids because you don’t want to talk about it or because you think you need to be perfect before you can then…” She reached over and poked Yuuri in the forehead like she used to do when he worried over minute details in their youth. “Then you need to stop thinking so much.”

With a groan she stood, wiping off her lap even though there was nothing to wipe off. 

“Well, I’m tired so I think I’ll get some sleep. Your old room is still yours but once Risa is old enough to not sleep in a crib, she’ll be taking it.”

“Good night.” Yuuri called after her before standing and head to bed himself. 

\---

She was a very vocal baby, that much was obvious.

When Yuuri finally woke up and headed out to the main dining area he heard the baby before he saw her. 

“Morning.” He apologized quietly as he yawned, “The jet lag between New York and here is pretty crazy.”

“Yah, it’s not exactly morning any more Little Bro.” Mari smirked up at Yuuri as she played with the small, blonde baby. Yuuri had to agree with his mother, though, Risa looked strikingly like her mother. Again, other than the hair. “Risa, say hello to your uncle.”

Yuuri sat down and Risa scooted to hide behind her mother, making Mari laugh. 

“She’s still a little shy around strangers.” Mari pulled the baby onto her lap so she was looking at Yuuri. “This is your uncle Yuuri.”

“Hello.” Yuuri smiled, waving at the baby. For a moment she was interested, making some gibberish sounds before she became scared again and turned to hide in Mari’s shirt. It was Yuuri’s turn to laugh, she looked so cute doing that. “She really looks so much like you.”

“Has my hair, though.” Joel added, appearing with food for all three of them. How he’d known exactly when to start cooking so that Yuuri would be up was a mystery to Yuuri but he guessed it was a skill he’d gained by growing up as the oldest of four children. “It’s nice to see you again, Yuuri.”

“Nice to see you too.” Joel had, through dating Mari and then living in Japan, become more or less fluent in Japanese, at least as fluent as someone could really be in a second language. His speech was still sometimes a little aggressive and direct but they were all used to it. Yuuri was probably more used to it that Mari was, having lived with Viktor for so long. 

He felt sad for a moment, wishing Viktor could be here. Viktor loved playing with babies and would have had a field day trying to make Risa laugh or smile. 

Maybe he did want kids and just didn’t think Yuuri did? Or maybe he didn’t want kids with Yuuri?

“Yuuri.” Mari’s voice broke into his thoughts, “You’re thinking too hard about something again, aren’t you?”

“Nope!” He smiled, unconvincingly, and began eating before Mari could ask anything further. Mari let it drop, at least for now, turning instead to her own food. 

When she finished, Mari stood with Risa on her hip. “Well I have front desk duty today, so you make yourself useful.” She plopped Risa down into Yuuri’s lap, “Risa, honey, Uncle Yuuri is going to take care of you today.”

The baby already looked like she was upset by being placed in a stranger’s lap but the moment Mari left the room Yuuri was sure she was going to burst into tears. 

“Hey, it’s okay.” He said, turning the baby around. “See, you daddy’s still here.”

This calmed the girl down slightly and Joel laughed, finishing his chewing before setting his chopsticks down. “She’s still a little clingy. Kids usually get clingy around this age. My youngest sister was such a clingy baby, she didn’t like my mom leaving the room. Didn’t matter if her dad or older siblings were there, all she wanted was Mom.”

“I guess Risa is better than that, then.” Yuuri turned her around again, making faces at her in the hopes of making her laugh but she didn’t seem interested, instead twisting to try and see Joel all while gibbering in a particularly whiny tone. “You sound like Viktor when you do that.” He joked with the baby, “Though usually, he would make those noises when Yakov made him stay late to go over this or that and sent me home.”

“How’s Viktor?” Joel asked, still working slowly on his meal. 

“Good, good. One of our students placed fourth at the Junior Grand Prix Finals so that was really amazing. I think she has a pretty good shot at a gold next year. A lot of it depends on who else is competing, really.” Yuuri pulled his keys out, using them to get Risa’s attention. Her brown eyes sparkled with interest as she looked at the keys, unsure of what to do. She wasn’t exactly smiling or laughing but at least she wasn’t trying to look at her dad. “How are you, Joel? Has your family gotten to meet Risa?”

“I’m great. One of my sisters came to visit when Risa was around two months old but the rest of my family doesn’t have passports. Once Risa is older, Mari and I were planning to bring her to America to see my family.”

“Make sure to stop by our place when you do, I’m sure Viktor would love to meet her.”

Joel, finished with his meal, stood and collected the bowls. “I should start helping with the kitchen.” He paused, standing next to where Yuuri had Risa trying to grab onto his keychains. “I never thanked you for helping me when I didn’t know how to tell my family I was moving overseas.”

“It was nothing.” 

Mari really wanted to stay in Japan and Yuuri suspected part of her reasoning was that Yuuri had already left. She probably felt that, as the oldest, she had an obligation to stay and help with the family business. That, and she’d spent much more time living there than Yuuri. Ever since he left for college he’d started feeling strange coming home, that strangeness feeling so much like the nostalgic melancholy he still hadn’t been able to shake. On the other hand, he didn’t think Mari had ever felt that. She’d never traveled outside of Japan until she was thirty and she’d always seemed more or less content here in Hasetsu. 

But Joel had a big family who’d all stayed pretty much in the same area. The farthest any of his siblings had gone, other than for college, was to a state over in New Hampshire. He’d been in quite the state when he called Yuuri to ask his advice, saying something about Yuuri understanding since he’d moved overseas too. Apparently, he wasn’t sure how to tell his parents he wanted to move to Japan permanently and he was convinced they’d be angry with him, or worse, with Mari. 

“I just never thanked you. Talking to you really helped me out.” He started to leave and Risa seemed to notice, starting to get agitated again. “There are blocks in the corner, she loves blocks.”

Yuuri smiled in thanks, carrying the baby over to play with the block while wondering if it would be worth asking Joel about his concerns. 

\---

Time went quickly, much faster than Yuuri liked, and even as he visited with friend and family he felt like he could feel time tugging him back Home. 

Home.

It had struck him when he was visiting with the Nishigori family that the inn wasn’t Home anymore. They’d asked if he missed being home, meaning here in Hasetsu, and he’d begun to answer like they’d been asking about his and Viktor’s apartment. He’d agree and started to say he wished Viktor was here. They’d called each other and text, of course, but it just wasn’t the same. It wasn’t until he was half way through what he was saying that he saw the knowing looks on Yuuko and Takeshi’s faces and realized the question Yuuko had meant. 

It was strange to him that even though he called the inn home, he didn’t really feel it anymore. He honestly hadn’t felt it in years. Coming to Hasetsu was good – it was great. He loved seeing his family and friends. But it just wasn’t home. He wasn’t going Home, he was going to a home. Home for him was in New York City. Or, more, his home was wherever Viktor was. 

Yuuri liked being back, though. He enjoyed the sound of a gibbering baby girl and the sounds of people coming through on vacation, even if it wasn’t that many. He liked seeing the faces he’d grown up with, all older but still familiar, and having them know who he was. 

He liked the blond baby girl with the sparkling brown eyes who had finally gotten comfortable with him. He liked that sometimes she would crawl over to him instead of going immediately to Mari or Joel. He liked the noise and he liked the chaos. 

When Mari was able to get Risa to wave goodbye as he got on the train, Yuuri thought his heart was going to explode.

Maybe he’d have to talk to Viktor about kids again.

**Author's Note:**

> Phew, that took longer than expected. I thought about having another few paragraphs at the end but I was having trouble ending it so I just left it there.
> 
> Joel was created entirely because I was reading Mari's wikia page and it was like "Mari like blond men" and I was like LOL time to have her married to a blond. Originally Joel's name was Matthew but then I realized that I couldn't have them both have M names. 
> 
> I don't really know anything about babies (I am the youngest and even my younger cousins are too close in age for me to remember them as babies so I've basically never interacted with babies) but I tried my best.


End file.
